Starry Stonewort: A Serious Threat to Michigan’s Lakes

Acknowledgement: This blog was first posted at www.hrwc.org on September 18 and is being reposted with permission.

Starry stonewort. If you are a lakefront property owner somewhere downstream of the St. Lawrence Seaway, you may have heard the name at some point in the past decade. Having spent the summer on lakes across Oakland County with MiCorps volunteers for the Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program’s Exotic Aquatic Plant Watch, I have been struck by the damage caused by this invasive large algae from Eurasia. Starry stonewort is arguably among the most disruptive invasive species to find its way into the Great Lakes region since the introduction of zebra mussels. In fact, it likely was introduced the same way, carried in the ballast water from ships engaging in transatlantic trade.

Interested in becoming a volunteer lake monitor with the Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program? Enrollment is now open for the 2019 Exotic Aquatic Plant Watch (EAPW) and other lake monitoring parameters. Visit our Become a Volunteer page to learn more.